Opening of ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ at Shakespeare in the Park

Belvedere Castle, Central Park. August 23, 2007. By Justin Ravitz

Can you speak in iambic pentameter offstage?
“Methinks you ask a question very bold / I do not know if I have e'er been told a thing such as this / And I can't believe I'm letting you record me / Speaking in this way / Which is so embarrassing.”
—Martha Plimpton

—Keith David

Can you speak in iambic pentameter?
“Not as a party trick.”
—Jeff Goldblum

—Lila Robins

What are the perils of performing outdoors? “Inhaling bugs is a dangerous, dangerous thing. And it's always 8 million degrees. They give you salt tablets”
—Michael Cerveris

—Jesse Tyler Ferguson

What was your thesis at Harvard? “Modern Appropriation of Eleventh-Century Indian Philosophy. You know, real practical stuff.”
—Rashida Jones

—Jennifer Ehle

What's your strangest memory of Central Park? “I couldn't tell you the weirdest one  too kinky. It happened in the men's room out here when I was in high school. I thought I'd never come back after that.”
—Jay O. Sanders

—Oskar Eustis

What's the most absurd thing you've done out of love? “I did freak out one time when my girlfriend broke up with me in high school. I spent the night out in the woods hitting trees, freaking out, and crying.”
—Oscar Isaac

What are the perils of performing at the Delacorte?
“The helicopters. A person in a helicopter doesn't realize how noisy it is. So they think ‘My God, let's get a little closer.’”
—Tim Blake Nelson (GETTY IMAGES)